SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler tore his right ACL against the Miami Heat on Monday night and is expected to miss the rest of the season, a team source confirmed to The Athletic.
The injury, which took place when he came down awkwardly after leaping for a rebound in the third quarter of the Warriors’ 135-112 win over Miami, is a devastating blow to a team that had finally found its stride. Golden State won for the 12th time in 16 games while improving to a season-best six games over .500 (25-19), but the mood afterward was one of dread because of the severity of the scene when Butler went down.
The 36-year-old who is widely regarded as one of the toughest players in the NBA, stayed on the ground for several minutes before getting to his feet, and then proceeded to limp off the court with the assistance of two teammates while not putting any weight on his right leg. The Warriors announced after the game that Butler was undergoing an MRI, and the results were nothing short of a worst-case scenario for their big-picture plans.
When the Warriors landed Butler from the Heat last February, that deal came with a two-year, $112 million extension that represented hope for extending the dynasty era led by Steph Curry and Draymond Green. The Warriors’ second-half surge last season was a confirmation of sorts: They were one of the league’s best teams down the stretch before downing Houston in the first round and falling to Minnesota in the second round after Curry went down with a hamstring injury in Game 1 of that series. The plan from there, as all involved saw it, was to build off of what they’d done and be even better this time around. That had been happening of late, even if it took longer than they’d hoped.
Butler came into Monday’s game in the middle of his best stretch of the season. He was averaging 21.9 points in the month of January and appeared to be both more aggressive within the framework of the offense and more comfortable finding his own shots around Curry. Warriors coach Steve Kerr repeatedly praised Butler in recent weeks for his ability to stabilize the offense and get to the free throw when needed. Butler’s ability on the floor gave his teammates the confidence that the Warriors had the 1-2 punch they needed with Curry and Butler leading the way. That’s exactly why the shock of Butler’s injury hit the group so hard within a quiet Warriors’ locker room after the game.
Butler’s teammates knew the severity of the injury long before the MRI confirmed it late Tuesday night. The look of worry on Warriors center Quinten Post’s face was immediate. Post was standing about five feet away when Butler landed awkwardly on his knee — and immediately put his hands on top of his head. After the game, Curry sounded almost defiant about the pending news, hoping against hope that the injury wasn’t as severe as the Warriors all feared it was. When asked what would change most without Butler on the floor — no matter how long his absence may be — Curry, who turns 38 on March 14th, wasn’t ready to think about it.
“We’re gonna have to do it by committee,” Curry said. “If anybody goes down. But we’ll figure out what the plan ahead is depending on what’s going on.”
What’s going on now for the Warriors puts a damper not only on the second half of this season, but a cold reality about a championship window that may have just shut for good with Butler’s injury. The Warriors needed a healthy Butler, Curry and Green to have a realistic chance at competing in the postseason — without him any chance to make a push in the Western Conference playoffs likely just went out the window. They currently sit in eighth place in the Western Conference, three games ahead of the 22-22 Portland Trail Blazers.
In the wake of the Butler injury, a natural question emerges: Will Jonathan Kuminga play a part in filling the massive void left behind by the six-time All-Star?
The Golden State Warriors forward who is being paid $22.5 million to not play this season, and whose years-long feud with his employer has left so many loyal fans exhausted and enraged with the way it’s all unfolded, was no longer as much of a focal point because the team had finally started to win games without him. Yet after this tension-filled stretch in which he has played just nine minutes since Dec. 6, the Warriors suddenly find themselves in a situation where he might be needed more than ever.
When longtime Warriors coach Steve Kerr was asked after Monday night’s game if Kuminga might be used now, he said, “Sure, absolutely.” Kerr was then asked if Kuminga was ready to play.
“Yeah,” he responded.
Kuminga, who has not been present in the public windows of media availability since sitting out a Jan. 2 game against the Oklahoma City Thunder because of what the team termed lower back soreness, was approached by The Athletic prior to Tuesday’s game and asked if he wanted to discuss his situation. Kuminga declined to comment.
The Warriors host Toronto on Tuesday, but then head out on a four-game road trip that comes with all sorts of irony: Two of the games are in Minnesota, where Kuminga had to step up in Curry’s absence last postseason and responded quite well. After Curry’s injury in that series, Kuminga averaged 24.3 points on 55.4 percent shooting in 31 minutes per game. The Warriors, however, lost in five games. ESPN first reported the severity of Butler’s injury.